Does Linus Torvalds deserve a Nobel Peace Prize for Linux?

David M Williams
Monday, 23 November 2009 06:17

Opinion and Analysis

When you think of world peace, besides the obvious response by Miss Universe contestants, worthy Laureates come to mind such as Kofi Annan, Medecins Sans Frontieres, Desmond Tutu, Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King Jr. Some sectors of the Internet would like to see Linus Torvalds added to the list.

This suggestion has been raised online in forums like SlashDot, among tweets, in Blog postings and elsewhere.

It appears to have been first raised by Ridenbaugh Press, servicing the Portland area that Linus Torvalds has made his home, and was sparked by Former Vice President – and Nobel Peace Prize winner – Al Gore’s visit to the locality.

Coincidentally, Torvalds was named after 1962 Nobel Peace Prize winner Linus Pauling, but the reason he has been put forth is because of Torvald’s work in developing the Linux kernel, which has subsequently formed the basis of many global projects that collectively make the world a better place.

Well-known beneficial projects that built on top of Linux include the One Laptop Per Child effort and the Human Genome project.

In addition, supporters say, Linux defends computer infrastructure against viral attack, Linux puts low-cost computing power into the hands of those otherwise unable to afford it, and is just generally an all-around marvel in the world today.

To some, the Internet buzz seems to be taken as influential with one commentator stating “probability of a new nominee is rising” although technically that is true, because it stands to reason any person can be nominated while winning is a different matter altogether.

This said, it’s not a simple matter to make a nomination because the general public are not actually entitled to submit nominations.

Instead, only qualified nominators may do so – a select group that consists of members of national assemblies and governments of states, former Nobel Peace Prize winners, Professors of social sciences and certain other fields, as well as a handful of others.

So, the chances Torvalds would genuinely be nominated are reasonably slim, I would think – unless you can persuade the likes of Senator Stephen Conroy or President Barack Obama to do so.

Nevertheless, the topic deserves some consideration. Has Torvalds made a step towards world peace via the invention of his kernel?

As tremendous and beneficial Linux is, I think the answer is no; at least, not in the same sense as the work of Mother Teresa or the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) – working in some of the harshest places on Earth to ensure basic survival by people who hope for clean water more than an open source operating system.

Further, does Torvalds deserve all the credit? Can it be argued his contribution – albeit an important one – is more significant than the vision of Richard Stallman who was the biggest original proponent of the free and open source software movement?

I’m sorry; this is a Linux column, but I just can’t see Torvalds as a legitimate Nobel Peace Prize candidate. Possibly Barack Obama and Al Gore should not have been candidates either, but when we talk about such individuals as Mother Teresa and Nelson Mandela it’s clear Torvalds isn’t in that category.

An honorary doctorate in Computer Science I can support, but not a Nobel Peace Prize.